Business
Senate Committee Lauds Intels Over Ports Dev
The transformation of the Oil & Gas Free Zone, Onne Port and regular payment of statutory fees to the government, have earned the Integrated Logistics Service Limited (INTELS) commendation from the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Investigation of the Privatisation and Commercialisation of activities of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator Ahmed Lawan who made the commendation during their visit to INTELS at Onne Port, said the committee was in Rivers State sequel to the motion on the floor to investigate the circumstances surrounding some government-owned privatized and commercialized firms by Bureau of Public Enterprises.
The committee is also expected to carry out a first-hand assessment of their activities and progress made, saying that INTELS was one of the three companies listed to visit.
Others include, Indorama former Eleme Petro-Chemical Company and NAFCON now Notore.
According to him, “INTELS has done so well in the development of the ports and need all the encouragement of government to continue in the good works you have being doing. We don’t have any problem with INTELS and it is one of the few examples of what the laudable concession programme is intended. Yours is a success story,” he noted.
Earlier, the Acting Deputy Managing Director of INTELS, Mr. Adamu Atiku Abubakar, thanked the Ad-hoc Committee for picking INTELS, stating that the company has discharged its obligations to date, in line with the concession agreement, both in terms of payment of statutory fees, infrastructure development, provision of equipment, transfer of skills and harmonious relationship with the host communities.
He disclosed that the company had on its payroll 3,000 direct staff and 2,500 sub-contractor staff, adding that the company presently boast of 600 modern cargo handling equipment of various capacity and that the one-stop-shop oil service centre which started about 28 years ago, took the lead in transforming the oil of Gas Free Zone in Onne Port from an abandoned project in 1980, to a model in the Sub-Sahara Africa in terms of efficiency, development of port infrastructures and turn-around of vessels.
He noted that INTELS success story had attracted more Foreign Direct Investment into the country, stressing that about 150 foreign and local companies at Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone are operating without hitch.